Los Angeles Magazine’s July issue encouraged me to venture to downtown’s Chinatown district where a beautiful thirty-two-acre state park celebrated its grand opening this past April. There are no swing sets or jungle gyms – just vast open spaces with drought-friendly plant life and dirt […]
I thought today would be an opportune time for me to briefly discuss my relationship with wine. It began in the womb really as wine sort of runs in my blood what with my Italian, French, and Spanish heritage (yes, I’m quite the mutt). But […]
Father’s Day is not an easy day for me or one that I have ever necessarily looked forward to. Not only did I lose my father to lung cancer six years ago, but he and I also were never especially close. I always loved him, though […]
It’s easy becoming downtrodden with all the news in the world. It’s understandable to become immobilized with fear. Fear of violence, fear of being detained in a foreign land, and all-around fear of being in the wrong place at the wrong time are all valid […]
Salvation Mountain is the entrance to the last free city in America, Slab City. And it’s epic. It’s colorful, fun, random, and religious. It’s everything I like to think of myself aside from the religious part. If Webster’s Dictionary were a picture book, Salvation Mountain […]
We’re like well-oiled machines. Once neglected, we’re rendered useless. We are reduced to rust, squeaking until someone mutters, “Better get some WD-40.” We need to feel wanted and useful. We need to feel like we have a purpose. Sometimes that purpose accommodates others and sometimes […]
When I learned that there was a lawless town in Southern California, inhabited by a diverse group of hippies, drug addicts, and other eccentric types, I naturally wanted to experience it firsthand. A little over three hours southeast of Los Angeles, Slab City, dubbed the […]
Their knowing looks caught my eye a couple of times as I consumed mediocre, overpriced seafood. I washed it down with agua con gas, which is what they call sparkling water in South America. Their faces spoke volumes of pity amidst the dim ambience and […]
“I feel like I have changed in the last week, like honest to goodness changed. I recognize that getting ill on my first solo trip of a lifetime was the Universe’s way of demonstrating to me what I’m capable of, my strength in so many […]
The fog seemed to grow denser the higher the bus climbed. I wondered if my flu-ridden body could wait it out for that iconic view of Machu Picchu bathed in sunlight. Upon arrival at the entrance, I realized that in all of the months of […]
